One of the most significant breakthroughs in hydraulically mining coal or the like has been the recent proposal to provide a feeder/breaker machine in the entry of a coal mine in cooperative relation with a monitor which functions to cut and break the coal. In this improved system, as mining operations progress, it is necessary first to move the monitor to the location to be mined and then move the feeder/breaker machine to the cooperative position. All of the disconnections, shifting and positioning and recoupling of supply lines and controls must be effected for both apparatuses each time such a change in mining location is made.
With such apparatus, a mining cycle in respect to the utilization of this equipment includes the initial set-up of the apparatus for mining coal from a particular level or section, and when the mining of that section is completed it is necessary to reposition both the monitor and the feeder/breaker upon completion of each cycle. Accumulations of rock and shale about the base of the monitor and the feeder/breaker must be removed. The hydraulic supply line to the monitor must be disconnected. Several sections of the hydraulic supply pipe are removed to enable the supply line to be adjusted to a new position of the monitor. The control position has to be relocated, the air line adjusted, phone line repositioned, etc.
The monitor is moved to the new location, after which the hydraulic supply line is again connected to the monitor. The feeder/breaker must be moved to a corresponding location relative to the monitor. The various controls must be reconnected or set up for operations before the apparatus is again ready for mining. In addition to the foregoing operations which must be performed at each change in the location of the mining operation, the supply line pipe sections must be stacked behind the monitor and the air line must be located accordingly to supply air at each new location, the mine phone line must also be maintained in a position for use and roof arches and planks, as well as flume sections, must be stacked behind the apparatus out of the way of the coal mining and removal operations.
These various steps are repeated at each new mining location as the mining of the coal progresses. With the use of a single monitor separate from the feeder/breaker, it has been necessary to utilize this sole means first to cut a quantity of coal loose from the seam or panel and then, as a separate step, use this same means to break up the coal that has been cut free from the seam and flush a portion of the broken coal through and by dams onto the feeder/breaker for further reduction in the size of lumps so that the water coal slurry discharged into the flume can move readily to a point where the water is removed and the coal can be prepared for shipment. Since the monitor, for obvious safety reasons, cannot be aimed back toward the entry, the coal accumulated alongside the feeder/breaker was moved by hand onto the breaker.
All of these various operations and the multiple use of the monitor for a plurality of functions necessarily reduced the efficiency of the mining operation and increased the amount of time required to remove a given amount of coal, and additional labor or man hours were involved both in handling the separate monitor and feeder/breaker and the multiple use operation of the monitor and the hand movement of residual coal alongside the feeder/breaker as well as the many steps or functions that were necessary at each relocation of the equipment. Consequently, the total output of the mine not only was reduced but the cost per ton for the coal removed in this manner was increased.